


There is a War in Ba Sing Se

by JeckParadox



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Ba Sing Se, Brainwashing, Creepy, Dai Li - Freeform, Gen, Mindbending, Prison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-21 02:24:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9527630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JeckParadox/pseuds/JeckParadox
Summary: Jet is subjected to mindbending, ineffectually. It doesn't work for a while.





	

"There is no war in Ba Sing Se."

"Of course there is!" 

"There is no war in Bas Sing Se."

"The firebenders are tricking you! I'm the only hope the Earth Kingdom has left against those, those, spies!"

"There is no war in Ba-"

"It's obvious now! Of course they were spies!"

"-Sing Se. There is no-"

"Pretending to be harmless refugees, sneaking up close to me and my crew on the boat."

"-war in Ba Sing Se."

"Look, can't you see? It's the Fire Nation that's the enemy! Every moment you spend not fighting them only puts the Earth Kingdom in more danger!"

"There is no war in Ba Sing Se."

* * *

"How goes Lake Laogai?" Long Feng asked his subordinate. 

"There has been an event of interest."

"Hm?"

"Last night, there was an altercation in the outer ring. A refugee attacked two other refugees, apparently because he thought they were firebenders."

"Were they?"

"Of course not. They came in through the regular channels, their paperwork wasn't perfect, but that's not noteworthy. But what firebenders could last through the entire process, the ferry, the customs, and then simply settle in and get a job in the slums of the lower ring without a complaint?"

"Hm. Why did he think they were firebenders?"

"He claims to have seen the elder heat tea."

"..."

"The accused man works in a tea shop. The refugee accuser's claims are ludicrous. It doesn't matter."

"Then why bring it up?"

"We brought him to Lake Laogai in order to prevent him causing any more war-centered disturbances last night."

"And?"

"We haven't made progress."

"What does that mean?"

"I mean, we've been mindbending him continuously since last night and he hasn't been affected."

"That's impossible."

"What would you have done?"

"Get someone else to do the mindbending. Obviously whoever is doing it now is not using the proper techniques."

* * *

"There... is no war... in Ba Sing Se." The man said tiredly. 

"Look, the Fire Nation has been preying upon smaller villages all over the Earth Kingdom, they're waiting right outside your doors, and they're sneaking in spies and traitors!"

"There isn't a war in Ba Sing Se!" The man growled, blinking to get the drowsiness from his eyes. The way the light spun through the room, it was hard on the eyes after a few hours. 

"Ugh! Stop saying that. How do you know there isn't a war in Ba Sing Se? I've seen it myself!"

"There is no war in Ba Sing Se."

"Blah, blah, blah! Listen to this buddy, I'm not the enemy here. We're on the same side, we're both loyal to the Earth Kingdom. That means we need to do everything we can to prevent chaos!"

The man sneered, putting his hands over his eyes. "Oh god. Damn it kid! That's what we're doing here! You going around accusing people of being Fire Nation, mentioning the war inside the city, that's what'll cause chaos!"

"Keeping your eyes shut to the reality around you is what will bring destruction to Ba Sing Se!"

"There is no War in Ba Sing Se." The man repeated, his voice hard. He shouldn't have broken the pattern.

"No way, I know you know otherwise!"

"There is no War in Ba Sing Se."

"I've seen it!"

* * *

"Have you heard about the kid in the Mindbending block?"

"Hm?"

A third Dai Li agent walked over to join the two in the mess hall. "I've heard about it. He went through two different mindbenders, and both sessions went on for hours."

"That's impossible."

"The boys are running a betting pool on how long it'll take him to crack."

"That's cruel."

"No, the stuff doesn't even affect him! There are people saying he'll have to be put into solitary, in an actual prison."

"Do we even have any nearby prisons? Anyone who starts making trouble gets mindbended back into being respectful citizens."

"Either way, I'm betting my money he makes another mindbender give up before he caves in."

* * *

"There... is no war..."

"The firebenders are out there."

"...in Ba Sing... Se..."

"They're sending in spies."

"There..."

"The Fire Nation is going to get through."

"is no war..."

"They'll burn everything."

"in Ba Sing Se... There is..."

"The firebenders are waiting."

"no..."

"Our only option is to fight back."

"war... in..."

"Their soldiers are already sneaking through."

"...Ba Sing Se..."

"The Fire Nation is going to burn everything."

"The... firebenders..."

"Will destroy everything. The walls can't stop them."

"There..."

"Are spies in Ba Sing Se."

"There are.. spies... in Ba Sing Se..."

"They work for the Fire Nation."

"The... Fire Nation... in Ba Sing Se."

"You need to fight them. Beat them before they beat us."

"The... Fire Nation... is in Ba Sing Se..."

"They send their spies."

"There are... Fire Nation... spies..."

"In Ba Sing Se." Jet said with a smile.

* * *

"Shu was removed from duty yesterday."

"What happened?"

"They aren't talking about it. All anybody knows is, he went to mindbend the unbreakable kid, gives up, and then starts dragging in people by the dozens. Refugees and cooks, mainly. Claiming they're all spies."

"What the heck?"

"Yeah. None of them were, of course, but they had to be mindbent. To forget their vacation at Lake Laogai. It was a travesty. Long Feng ordered him to take a break and rebuild his mental strength."

"Huh. I guess with our line of work, it's only a matter of time before we crack, eh?"

"I heard Ta was going to try next, on the unbreakable kid."

"Ta isn't good at it, he usually takes hours anyway."

"Well, we're running out of people trained in it."

* * *

"There is no war in Ba Sing Se!"

"There is a war in Ba Sing Se."

"There is n-"

"a war in Ba Sing Se."

"There's no-"

"Yes. There is."

"Shut up!"

"The Fire Nation is out there."

"There's no war in Ba Sing Se. There's no war in Ba Sing Se..."

"The Fire Nation is sending their spies."

"There's no war-"

"Their firebenders are already inside the walls."

"in Ba Sing Se, the-"

"They're already here. They've gotten in."

"There is... no war! In Ba Sing Se!" The Dai Li agent shouted. 

Jet smiled, raising an eyebrow. "But there is. Keeping me in this chair, with your lantern, it doesn't help the Earth Kingdom. All you're doing is keeping a Freedom Fighter from doing his job. What do you do?"

"I... I am Dai Li."

"You protect the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se." Jet said cooly. 

"I protect the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se." Ta said in response, saying it to himself. 

"You are Dai Li."

"I am Dai Li."

"You protect the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se."

"I protect the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se."

"I am Dai Li."

"Y-You are... No!"

"I'm a Freedom Fighter. I protect the Earth Kingdom. I save the Earth Kingdom."

"No! You're just a criminal who sews chaos into the streets of our peaceful city!"

"Those are the firebenders. They're the problem. If the Fire Nation were to stop fighting, there would be no war in Ba Sing Se."

"There is no war in Ba Sing Se." He muttered to himself. "There isn't any war in Ba Sing Se!"

"That's because you refuse to fight! You refuse to protect Ba Sing Se!"

"I am a Dai LI! I protect-"

"NOTHING! Here, right now, you protect nothing! Get out there on the wall, throw rocks at the firebenders trying to break in this very second! Look for the spies they're sneaking in on refugee ships!"

"I...."

* * *

Long Fend curled his lip in anger, and the messenger raised his over his face, as if that would somehow shield him from the Secretariat's anger. "Eleven mindbenders, all unable to do their jobs?!"

"Y-Yes, Long Feng."

"I'm putting an end to this charade." Long Feng said darkly, heading lower into the complex beneath Lake Laogai. He walked over to the mindbending chambers, and wrenched the door open. 

"The Fire Nation is the Enemy."

"The Fire Nation is the Enemy."

"The Fire Nation is the Enemy."

"The Fie Nation is-"

"What is the meaning of this?!" Long Feng roared. 

"Ah! Cultural Minister, sir."

"So, you're in charge here, huh? Let me out! I've been sitting in this chair near-constantly for almost two weeks now, and I'm sick of it!"

Long Feng stared at Jet, before narrowing his eyes at the Dai Li agent sitting nearby. "What was that mantra you were chanting? That isn't the program you use."

"I..."

"You will need a vacation at Lake Laogai." Long Feng said, the Dai Li agent standing rigidly. "Go."

The Dai Li agent left, his eyes empty. 

Long Feng sat down in the seat the other man had just vacated, and with a hand, stopped the rotating lamp. "So... you've been mindbending them right back."

"My will is iron! Until the Fire Nation is destroyed, I can't ever give up! I need to protect the Earth Kingdom!"

"Hm. I can see why it would work. You sound... so earnest. And your words are appealing to the Dai Li. They need to constantly tell themselves similar things, in order to justify what we do to people like you, to ourselves. I can see that now."

"Heh, you'll never break me. So why don't you let me go? You must want to protect the Earth Kingdom too, right?"

"Wrong."

"What?"

"I want to protect this city. Ba Sing Se, is by its nature, impregnable. The Fire Nation cannot get in. I don't know, or particularly care, what you think you saw. No self-respecting firebender could ever get into this city."

"But spies-"

"Of course there are spies. But guess what, little rabblerouser? We do to them what we've been trying to do to you. And they... forget, anything from before they took their role on. They forget they were loyal to the Fire Nation, and simply become good citizens."

"That's..."

"The Fire Nation cannot break in, their spies are found same as anyone who is suspicious in the slightest, and neutralized by our mindbending. No, the only thing that could hurt Ba Sing Se... are ideas. Ideas of war. Ideas of life outside the walls. Ideas of chaos. It's things like that, that start fires in my utopia. People like you, throwing around words like spies, and enemies, and firebenders..." Long Feng shook his head. "You do more damage to the Earth Kingdom than the Dragon of the West could hope to do. Telling those inside Ba Sing Se of the war with the Fire Nation does nothing... but hurt us."

"NO! You're lying."

"Hmph. Well, either way. You won't remember this conversation."

"Going to try and mindbend me?"

"Yes."

"Why would you succeed where the others failed?"

"Because I am going to make you shut up." 

"Hah! Fat chance of thahrmphgggheehrgg!!!" More rocks flung from Long Feng's stone gloves, the stone hand wrapping itself around Jet's jaw and blocking his mouth. The boy couldn't even breathe though it, having to rely on his nose. 

"Now then..." Long Feng put out the lamp, leaving the two of them in darkness, before slowly, subtly, moving the lamp directly in front of Jet. He lit it once more, and then reactivated the mechanism, letting it slowly make its hypnotizing rotations once more. "There is no war in Ba Sing Se."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
